Greenwood boys take two TVL games, Buffaloes go 1-1

The Greenwood boys’ basketball team extended a warm welcome back to Grant Lesh last week.

The senior, a key contributor to the Wildcats’ success over the past three years, demonstrated he’s glad to be back, as well.

On Dec. 13, Lesh, who missed the first weekend of the season recovering from a hard hit to the face in the team’s final scrimmage, made his debut with five points and a 3 in a 69-31 rout of Line Mountain.

Three nights later, at home against a scrappy East Juniata squad, Lesh scored a team-high 18 points, including 11 in the first half on 9-of-11 shooting from the free-throw line, to help the Wildcats pull away for a 49-34 win over the Tigers.

“It’s great to have Grant back, but I thought we played OK without him,” said ’Cat coach Kent Houser who has his team off to a 2-0 start in defense of its Tri-Valley League title. “I’ve been happy with how everybody has been playing so far.”

Houser has been banking a balanced offensive attack that spreads the responsibility for scoring points. Through four games, 10 different players have scored, eight have at least one 3 and a different player has led the team each night.

In the win over Line Mountain, Alex Potter had 16 (three 3s), Tyler Fegley added 11 and Josh Ferguson chipped in with nine.

Against the Tigers, Lesh carried the first-half load but, after a 22-11 second-quarter mess put E.J. up a point at halftime, the Wildcats clamped down at the defensive end and pulled away.

Up 31-29 going into the fourth quarter, Houser’s ballclub found wing Adam Harrison open on the arc, the sophomore knocked down a pair of treys, to open the frame and finished with eight points.

“At times we turn the ball over too much. That got us in trouble in the Mifflin County game and it got us in trouble against E.J.,” Houser explained. “When you’re turning the ball over and fouling, you can’t play defense.

“Adam’s 3s got us going. That’s what was open and we finally started hitting some shots.”

Houser, a defense-first coach, is pleased with his team’s approach, especially Fegley and Harrison, who shared responsibility for locking on Tiger shooter Nick Lorenz as an assignment.

Lorenz, who went into the game averaging 23.7 points and 4.7 3s, was held to 14 and three.

“Tyler and Adam did a nice job on Lorenz,” Houser said. “(Lorenz) is a good shooter. Our kids made him work for what he got.”

Houser shrugged off what some might perceive as a rebuilding project, given he’s only got three players back from his core.

Houser explained, “This is a dedicated group. They put in the time in the summer and they’ve played a lot of basketball together. We’ve got some depth and size. Once we start taking better care of the ball, we’ll be fine.”

NewportPoise under fire is a necessary commodity in athletics.

Last week, Jason Shorey’s Buffalo ballclub got an education just how important it is.

On Dec. 13, on the road at Upper Dauphin, Newport kicked away an 11-point halftime lead, allowed the Trojans to pile on a 25-10 fourth-quarter edge and let the home team skate off with a 59-49 win.

Three nights later, at Line Mountain, the Buffaloes put their lessons learned to good advantage, surviving a third-quarter comeback bid by the Eagles and hanging on for a 45-35 win that raised their record to 2-1.

“We had to make two long road trips for two tough league games. To go 1-1 was good for us,” said Shorey. “We didn’t play particularly well at Line Mountain, but we were able to defend and close it out.”

Senior sharpshooter Zach Cree canned two 3-pointers in each of the first three quarters and finished with a game-high 21 points against UDA, but had little offensive support to go along.

Of course, the fact that the Trojans made 17-of-22 foul shots in the decisive final period and outscored the Buffaloes 25-4 overall at the foul line, made winning problematic.

Shorey, however, didn’t blame the officials. He put the onus on his players.

“(After the game), we talked about keeping our composure. When you make a bad play, you have to let it go, move on and make the next play. We didn’t do that,” Shorey said. “(And), we didn’t have enough people in double figures. We’re a good team when everybody touches the ball, when everybody is getting their shots.”

The Buffaloes corrected both of those problems at Mandata.

With Cree suffering through one of those games a shooter has on occasion, Shorey’s front line stepped forward.

Jared Myers had a team-high seven points in the first half to help the Buffaloes to a 23-12 lead. Zach Criswell added 11 second-half points, including seven in the fourth, and popped for a game-high 15.

“We had an advantage in the post and we went to Criswell the entire game. In the fourth quarter, he started putting the ball in the basket,” said Shorey. “Patrick (Horting, who finished with eight points), made two key shots in the third quarter, when they made a run at us.

“That game could have gone the same way as (UDA). We kept our poise much better and we’re able to get a nice win.”

Jordan Clegg (seven points) and Cree (4) also scored against the Eagles.